MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

MyPE chimes in with Financial Lessons for Businesses

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Advice from MyPE featured in the Hippo.co.za blog titled; “Financial Lessons for Businesses from 2015“:

Alan Straton, chief author of community website MyPE, is passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Here are his lessons from 2015:

“2015 has highlighted that we really live in a global economy and our politicians’ utterances can make or break business. For instance, the downward pressure of the Rand had a devastating effect on businesses, with product prices based on the Dollar.

Traditionally, South African-based web hosting companies bought space in overseas web farms and paid in Dollars. This was a good thing when the Rand was stable and strong. In January 2006, the Rand/Dollar exchange rate was at R5.99, but ten years later we hit R17.43 in January 2016. Most of the spikes seem to be politically related.

Conventional wisdom says that the value of an asset or service should double around every six or seven years but web hosting services are under constant pressure to not increase prices. This has created the perfect storm for the web hosts with servers paid for in Dollars; services became almost three times more expensive and salaries nearly doubled while selling prices remained the same. The net effect of this is that many have now closed down or sold their businesses, resulting in further outflows of capital and a general rise in the cost of doing business.”

The Reason why MyPE was featured stems from this article: Why our sorry Rand is performing so badly.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.